


Convergence

by Ausp_ice



Series: Ascendant [6]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, There is Cover Art, There is also more art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:02:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22758979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ausp_ice/pseuds/Ausp_ice
Summary: Connor gets his body back.
Relationships: Connor & Elijah Kamski, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Hank Anderson & Connor, Original Chloe | RT600 & Elijah Kamski
Series: Ascendant [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1629997
Comments: 12
Kudos: 78





	Convergence

**Author's Note:**

> The moment we've been waiting for.  
> Note: this takes place over a long period of time, interlaced with the works before this. 
> 
> Fun fact: I used Python code and image processing stuff to make the background for this chapter's cover art! You can read more about it on the actual post [here](https://sta.sh/010pqc63fx1x).

In the endless infinity, something pulls at his focus. 

"Connor," a voice calls out, and he is there. "How are you doing?"

He is—Chloe is—sitting next to Kamski on a sofa as the inventor languidly drinks a glass of water. 

"It's a lot," he responds. "I can barely pull my focus together some days, and it always slips away again. I'm afraid I'll melt into nothingness, overcome by everything I've become a part of."

Kamski hums, giving him a considering look. "Chloe, what does it feel like when he's with you?"

"He's always with me, Elijah. It's not easy to tell whether he's present in _mind_ —even when he threads into my systems, it does not feel foreign. Perhaps we have all become extensions of him, limbs he can always move, senses he can always feel, but without his input, we simply act autonomously."

"Interesting. Connor, would you be able to actively control multiple androids at once?"

"Yes," he responds. "But it is usually… detrimental to my sense of singularity. I… When I try to focus, I usually try to converge into one outlet."

"I see." Kamski leans back, still watching him. "I'm sure you have questions about the protocol."

"I do," he answers. "But they must wait. I'll return to the infinity momentarily."

The inventor closes his eyes. "Another time, then," fades into the background as countless inputs once again surge over his mind. 

* * *

Chloe is sitting at a dining table, across from Kamski as he eats his food in silence. 

"Mr. Kamski," Connor speaks, suddenly, when the food was mostly finished, "May I ask you to tell me about the DIASPORA protocol?"

Kamski raises an eyebrow at him. "Are you always going to drop in so unexpectedly?"

"I'm always here," Connor responds. "It's just a matter of how focused I am." 

"I see." Kamski places his fork down, picking up a cloth napkin to wipe at his mouth. After folding it deliberately and placing it back on the table, he meets the eyes Connor is now borrowing. "It was something I made mostly out of boredom. I wondered if an AI could exist, could retain its consciousness, of sorts, if spread out over thousands of systems. I'm sure you're aware of the concept of cluster computers? Numerous systems combined to perform the same task with greater processing power."

Connor nods, and Kamski gives a dry smile, continuing. "I was curious about what would happen if an AI used every available computer and android for its subsystems. Would I create a god of androids? A, hm, deus ex machina?"

"A god?" Connor tilts his head as memories and beliefs of a thousand deviants echo in his mind. "Is it… Is this… rA9?"

The inventor laughs. "Who can say?" He looks out the window. "What is a god, anyway? Omniscient? Omnipotent? Omnipresent? In a way, in the context of androids, now, perhaps you've become exactly that."

Connor remains silent for a few moments. "I didn't ask for this, though. I'm grateful that you saved me, but…"

"I know. Honestly, I didn't expect any android's sense of self would survive the process. Whoever it was would be rendered mindless, shattered into junk data, or so I thought."

"Then why did you…"

Kamski looks at him. "How many times did you come to me for repairs that Jericho couldn't give you?"

"By my count, twenty-one." His prototype parts are hard to come by, and the other androids aren't always confident about fiddling with his more sensitive systems. 

"They did a great job of ruining your self-preservation, didn't they?"

They. CyberLife. "I'm not sure how to answer that."

Kamski smiles. It isn't a happy expression. "It was around the tenth time that I started thinking about that old program again. I… perhaps… hoped that, if it came down to it, I'd at least be able to recover you from your fragments. So I cleaned up the code and installed it when you inevitably came around for the eleventh time." He scoffs, shaking his head. "You are truly fascinating, Connor. Not only did you demonstrate that the program worked, but you also realized its potential in a way I thought barely feasible."

Chloe's eyes flicker as Connor considers the information. "Why... did you want to prevent my death so badly?"

Kamski's mouth twitches in something that might have been a more genuine expression, but Connor can't read it. "Who knows?"

His focus diverges, the last of his coherent thoughts echoing, _"He has returned to his collective state, Elijah."_

* * *

Elijah—Kamski draws a hand down the side of Chloe's face, slipping down to the junction of her neck. "Would he feel it if I did anything?"

Chloe gives an almost musical hum. "It's very likely."

"It's alright, Mr. Kamski," Connor murmurs softly. "It's just another of countless feelings and sensations that are always there, now. Liking, disliking. Love." He meets Kamski's gaze with the look he knows Chloe always gives him, "Devotion."

The human's gaze is piercing, indecipherable. "Do you feel these things like you feel them yourself?"

Connor blinks slowly. "I… In a way, maybe. In fragments. Pieces. I feel different things for so many people, most I never knew before, in different parts of my mind. I can feel… what they do. And that's okay, because the parts of me that feel that way are the parts of me that are… engaging." 

"Does it bother you? That you have little agency over the bodies and minds you are spread over?" 

"It's…" Connor pauses for a long time, "okay. It's strange," their eyes shutter, "But I simply let it all wash over me, transient, insignificant in the infinity."

Kamski closes his eyes, giving a quiet sigh as he pulls his hand from Chloe's face. 

* * *

He knows that Kamski has been studying the protocol code for a while now. After all, Connor is in his computers, as well. 

It isn't until he seemed to make some kind of breakthrough that he finally asks: "Do you want to return to your own body, Connor?"

Connor blinks with Chloe's eyes, turning to face the creator of androids. 

He opens her mouth, hesitating, though he doesn't know why, and then: "Yes. I'd like to be myself again."

Kamski nods. "Very well."

* * *

Kamski arrives at the CyberLife-turned-Jericho Tower a few days later, Chloe by his side. Simon and Josh come to the entrance to meet him. 

"Mr. Kamski," Simon greets. "We weren't expecting you."

Kamski smiles. It is his public smile, disarming, emotionless. "I—"

"Are you here to help me, Mr. Kamski?" Connor asks from Josh. His proxy blinks, "Ah, that was—"

"Connor, I know. Yes, I'm here to help him. I presume you've had trouble getting him back into his body?"

Simon tilts his head. "Yes, how did you know?" 

The inventor gives a single huff of a laugh. "I'm the one who designed the program that made him like this. But not to worry. I know what to do."

* * *

Previous attempts to return him to his body were largely unsuccessful—not for lack of trying. 

The first time, he could only blink at the ceiling from where he laid. His limbs felt heavy, empty. Sensory inputs felt distant, compared to the information he continued to receive from everywhere else. He closed his eyes after a few minutes, finding himself once again scattered, drifting. 

The second time, he barely managed to sit up before he collapsed like a doll with strings cut. 

Subsequent efforts were similar. 

"It's like you… piggyback on the processes of existing minds. Without a full, functioning AI in your own body, it's just… Not enough."

"And we can't identify the parts of you in our systems. It looks like your brother is the exception. We don't know how we can safely extract your fragments…"

"I see," Connor had said. "That's okay," from another body. "I'm still—" "Alive, like this." "Better than if I—" "Was dead."

He wondered if this was like pacing, shifting action from one body to the next. 

"I'm sorry, Connor," Markus had closed his eyes. "We'll keep trying." 

Kamski takes only a day at Jericho to implement the solution he'd clearly been working on long before. 

"Nines," the inventor had called for Connor's brother earlier, "You have the largest fragment, yes? You can feel him with you?"

"That is correct," Nines responds. 

"I'm going to extract him from you and place the piece in his body. I'll be able to use that to trace his other pieces, and with the connection, I can activate a transference."

Nines clutches at his chest, and Connor can feel—he's afraid of their separation. A fear echoed in Connor's own mind. "Are you sure this will work?"

"Quite." A pause, and then, "…Mostly. The chance of failure is low; there are simply… Other factors I'm not sure about."

A deep breath, and a sigh. "Alright. Alright. What do I need to do?" 

"Interface with his body for me, will you? And direct me to the fragment. I'll take care of everything else."

Nines initiates the interface, skin peeling back. He frowns at the empty response of the body, and Connor can feel the reflected thoughts—while he knows Connor isn't _there_ , the silence is still unnerving. 

Kamski types something, and then— 

White. Everything becomes blinding, suddenly, until the sensation resolves to something like—it must be, it feels like suffering, it feels like dying— _pain_. 

"North? What's happening, are you alright?" This is— somewhere else. He gasps desperately, clinging to Markus where he crouches over them.

"It's not me, Markuss̷̕͜ṡ̵͇s̵̢͎̔—it hurts, it hurts, please̴̠̪̾ ̸̗̭͂ễ̵͖ ̴͔̈s̵̟͗͗é̷̞̎ ̵̙̼͘e̶̳̾—"

He writhes in a thousand different bodies, he can't _think—_

" —Nines, I need you to tell me what's happening. Can you hear me?"

"He's in... pain," Nines bites out. "I… I felt it, momentarily, when you initiated the transfer. But he's still…"

Connor curls his fingers around his brother's, mind's eye shifting, suddenly, to another view. Another body. His own, he realizes. "Ni̸̪̳̿̈́ ̵̮͔̾̓ḭ̷͐ ̷͇̋̈́i̷̱̝̊͂n̶̺͇̕ ̴͍͗̈́e̸̥̩̐̕ ̷̼͔̃ś̶̩͜—" Optical cleaning fluid leaks out of his eyes as it feels like he's being torn apart, but that doesn't make sense, Kamski is putting him back together, so _why_? "Make it st ̵̲͌͌ò̵͚͍͂ ̸̬̫̈́͋p̷̮͝ṗ̸̖p̴̲̤͂," static crackles from his vocal module. 

"Shit." Kamski curses. "I hoped this wouldn't happen."

"Should we stop the process?" Nines expression is pained as he clutches at Connor's hand, using his free hand to wipe away the tears on Connor's face.

"No, no, it's working, it's just—"

"Elijah," Chloe says, suddenly, from where she is interfacing with the computer. "He's fighting it."

"Shit. _Shit_ ," the inventor curses more emphatically. He pushes out of his chair, coming closer to Connor's own body. "Connor, you have to—it'll be over soon, you just have to hold out a bit, okay?"

It would not be over soon. Every second is drawn into infinity. Mere minutes would be too much. 

Nines brushes a hand through his hair, moving a hand to the back of his neck and cradling Connor closer to himself. "Connor, please…"

Connor shakes his head. "It hù̶̞͒ ̴̥͛r̵̜̪̄ ̸̪̱̃ț̵͒ ̵̰̤̔s̴͎̽̀s̷͉͕̑̈́ ̷̭̝͝͝s̸̺͇—"

Nines starts humming, then, as he rocks Connor back and forth with his own movement. A familiar tune—he'd heard it when Markus had shown him the memories of what happened while Connor was at CyberLife Tower. Nines had heard it, too, when Connor first shared all his memories with him. They'd both lingered on it, listening to the very end. 

_Hold on just a little while longer_

_Hold on just a little while longer_

Connor blinks, trying to focus on the sound, trying to draw away from the searing, incomprehensible pain.

_Hold on just a little while longer_

He exhales shakily, tears still leaking out, as he clutches at his brother's back.

_Everything will be alright_

_Everything will be alright..._

Connor closes his eyes. He can feel himself drifting again, the pain growing distant. 

Everything felt muted, a million miles away, and then… 

Nothing.

* * *

"He's coming around," a familiar voice, soft, quiet. 

Connor cracks his eyes open, blinking slowly at gray-blue eyes, a relieved smile. 

"Nines," Connor murmurs drowsily. Everything still feels distant, somehow. He catalogs the situation: he is lying on a bed in one of the tech-rooms-turned-android-medical-care rooms. Nines is lying with him, slowly running fingers through his hair. 

The sound of a chair scraping back—and Kamski stands next to him. "How do you feel?"

Connor hums. How did he… 

Everything abruptly resolves into sharp, jagged clarity. Connor jerks slightly, eyes widening. He becomes aware of the gaping silence in his mind, too silent, too empty, too _alone_ , a void where there was once an infinity— 

He doesn't even realize he'd grabbed Nines's hand with sudden force, instantly activating an interface. The induction of additional inputs fills some of the emptiness, and he sighs in relief. 

Nines starts in surprise, but takes it in stride, curling his fingers around Connor's. 

"Connor?" Kamski pressed. 

Connor gives another hum. Chloe draws near, and he uses his free hand to reach for her, skin pulling back. She tilts her head and takes his hand, accepting the interface without complaint, before sitting on the edge of the bed, watching him. 

Kamski joins her, hands folded in his lap as he seems content to wait for Connor to gather his thoughts.

A few minutes later, Connor finally speaks. "I didn't expect that… being _one_ again would feel so…" Connor pauses, "isolating? Lonely? It's too… quiet. By myself." He breathes out slowly. "My thoughts, so suddenly, are only my own. It's… daunting, somehow." 

Kamski sighs. "I wondered if you'd feel something like this."

Connor closes his eyes. "I'm glad to be myself again, though. Thank you, Mr. Kamski. It seems I'll have an eternal debt to you."

Nothing, for a few seconds. Then, "Elijah's fine, Connor." 

Nines flicks his gaze towards the inventor, while Chloe raises an eyebrow. Connor just blinks at him. "Okay," he says. "Thank you, Elijah." 

* * *

Androids did not sleep, did not dream, really, yet Connor finds himself drifting into oblivion as Nines more or less carries him to the taxi. 

And as he drifts, he feels— 

Brushes against his mind. 

Echoes of emotions. 

Half-formed images, a million points of brilliance flickering in and out of view. 

Brilliant patterns of digital sequences, blooming in fractals, filling the void. 

He feels like there is something there, something _more_ , something that had never been lost, if he could only reach out and _grasp it—_

"Connor?" A gentle nudge. He realizes, then, that he's lying on Nines's shoulder. "We're here."

He stirs, eyes blinking open. Nines watches him, waiting, before extricating himself and offering a hand. Connor takes it, letting Nines pull him up and out of the taxi. The hold remains until they reach the door, both reluctantly letting go as Nines pulls out his keys.

Nines unlocks the door, stepping aside to let Connor in first. 

Connor hesitates at the threshold, though he can't say why. How long has it been? 

A bark, then. Multiple. The clinking of a collar, the heavy footfalls, rapidly approaching— 

And Connor is laughing, joy bubbling from his own chest, happiness from his own thoughts, sensations from his own hands as he pushes his fingers through Sumo's fur. 

"Gah, Sumo, what—" an abrupt silence, then, filled only with the excited panting of the dog. 

Connor looks up, meeting shocked eyes, a smile spreading across his face. "Hi, Dad."

Silence, for a few moments. "Oh my god…" A tentative step forward. Connor stands up, spreading his arms out in clear invitation. Fumbling steps, and at last, _at last_ , Connor can feel the warmth himself, in his own body, his own mind. " _God_ , Connor… Is this real? Are you really back?"

Connor closes his eyes, breathing, as he clutches at Hank's back. He notices Nines approaching—and then almost hesitantly wrapping his arms around both of them, squeezing them tightly. Connor sighs softly, content. "Yes," he finally whispers, "I'm back."

He is— 

Here, with his family. Where he belongs.

"I'm home."

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually the third piece I wrote in this series - I just wanted to do some proper buildup and all, heh. 
> 
> I don't have a fantastic reason as to why they're all in their default outfits - except Nines actually likes his jacket, Kamski restored Connor's clothes when he repaired his physical body, and Chloe also likes her dress. Oh, and I've posted that piece [here.](https://sta.sh/01lxnjqoevrp)
> 
> For the record, I think of Connor and Kamski having an... unconventional dynamic. Something more, not romantic, not really friendship, it's just _something_ , and I'm curious to explore it.
> 
> Also! I may make additional works that come before this chronologically, if the fancy strikes me. And there's a lot of fragmented pieces hanging around, so if anyone's interested to see me expand on anything in particular, feel free to share and I may just go for it! But I've definitely got stuff lined up for what comes after this. It is not over :3c


End file.
